I donated blood on Tuesday, and they told me not to exercise for 24 hours. I thought it would be a good idea to do it the day before physical therapy, because then I could use that as my rest day and be fresh when I got in there. But in the back of my head, I had a suspicion that the physical therapy would fall under that “exercise” category and I’d pay the price. I’m pretty smart and pretty stupid at the same time.
I’ll get to that in just a bit. On Monday, I wrote about how upset my wife was with her run over the weekend. Well, she appreciated all of the feedback she got and she’s looking forward to running Long Beach later this month! I can’t believe it’s already October! She ran a good 15-miler in the sun yesterday, so at this point, I think she’ll be fine to start the race with 20 good miles.
A lot of people say that the second half of the marathon starts after 20 miles, but after running 25 of them, I disagree. I think it all depends on how tough you are. She’s pretty tough, so I think the second half for her will start after 13.1 miles.
While I’m talking about running, I guess I should talk about my own running, since I’m the one planning on running 60 marathons next year for Operation Jack. I went 8.65 miles on Monday, 13.4 on Tuesday, nothing yesterday (as you’ll read about in the next segment) and 12 today. Nothing special, nothing fast. I guess that’s about all I have to say about my running right now. I’m thinking about running a 5K next Saturday at Chapman. If you’re going to be there, let me know.
Next Time I’ll Listen To What The Red Cross Tells Me
I donated blood on Tuesday, a new habit of mine I hope to keep up for a long, long time. I’m terrified of needles, but I know it’s a blessing to be on this side of a blood transfusion, so I decided to start doing this in July. I was inspired to do this by a friend of mine named Peggy, who’s as good of a person as you could know, and I chose to do this in honor of my late Uncle Bob, who died of leukemia in 2004. He died on July 27 of that year, so I donated for the first time on July 27 of this year. Well, that was the first time I’d donated in more than 12 years.
Anyways, I went back on Tuesday to donate again. All went well, I got my free cookies, and went back to work. They told me not to exercise for 24 hours. When I think of exercising, I think of a 12-15 mile run before work. My body apparently considers physical therapy to fall into that category. I did a new drill yesterday that involved sets of 30 seconds of stepping up and down off of a box with weights in each hand. When I was done, I felt like I was going to throw up. I couldn’t catch my breath. I started getting dizzy and everything went black for a split-second. I was light-headed for the rest of the day, and needless to say, I’ve learned my lesson.
I’ll definitely give blood again as soon as I can. But I’ll also definitely follow the no-exercise-for-24-hours rule a little better!
I’m “Charity Chasing” In Mobile!
I’m going to be something called the “Charity Chaser” in the BankTrust First Light Marathon in Mobile, Ala., on January 10 next year. I’ll be the very last person to cross the start line, and I’ll be collecting pledges for charity. All proceeds from this will go to the charity that promotes the marathon, L’Arche Mobile, a great organization that helps adults with intellectual disabilities. I have an uncle (my dad’s brother) who lives in a similar organization out here and I’m glad I’ll be able to help.
Part of what will add to the challenge is that I’ll be running a marathon in Jackson, Miss., the day before. So, if you’re looking at the race schedule and wondering if I go all-out the second day of a double … I do. And when there’s money on the line for charity, I’ll really be pushing hard.
I’m starting to work on Mobile-area contacts to try to find sponsors/pledges for this. I’m expecting to pass somewhere in the neighborhood of 400 people in the marathon and the half-marathon. If you’d like to make a pledge towards this (a nickel per person I pass, a dime per person I pass, etc.) or if you have contacts in the Mobile area, please let me know. I’ve been working with the race director in Mobile, and he’s going to be coordinating coverage with the local media out there, so depending on the pledge, there could certainly be promotional considerations!
Anybody Looking For a 3:30 At Surf City?
I’ll be a 3:30 pacer again at Surf City next year. In February, I led a pace group for the first time in the Surf City Marathon. I had a work emergency and only got one hour of sleep the night before the race, but since I made a commitment, I carried through and paced the 3:30 group. I was nervous, because if I bomb my own race, that’s my own problem. But if I bomb as a pacer, that affects other people. And with only one hour of sleep, plus parking problems that made me so late I had to sprint to the start line and couldn’t use the porta-pottie (a pre-race must if you’re well hydrated!), I was certainly concerned! But I turned in a 3:29:57 and got invited back!
If you’re looking to run a 3:30 and want a pacer who will tell bad jokes for 26.2 miles, Surf City might be the race for you!
That’s All For Today!
Oops, no video for today. Don’t think I’ll be writing anything for tomorrow. Have a great weekend everybody!
if only i could run that fast i would just for the bad jokes!